While Murray was limited to five games last season due to a foot injury — he went 2-3 and didn’t play after Oct. 5 — he said “I take extreme pride in my health” and sounded confident he’ll be readily available.
And once he’s on the field, competing with J.J. McCarthy, who started 10 games for the Vikings in 2025, and is building rapport with the guys, Murray knows he has one of, if not the best, receivers on his side.
“I’m sure I’ll talk to him here pretty soon,” Murray said when he was asked about his kinship with four-time Pro Bowl WR Justin Jefferson. “My last real interaction with Jettas was at the Pro Bowl. … Everybody knows what type of talent he is, what type of player he is, and his ability is through the roof.
“I’m just super excited to get to work with him; be able to call him a teammate,” Murray added.
In Murray’s mind, it’d be wrong to put a ceiling on expectations with him under O’Connell, who has played a big hand in maximizing the performance of veteran QBs, namely Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold.
“I don’t want to put any limitations on what that looks like,” he stated. “I know he’s had a tremendous amount of success with multiple different quarterbacks. I know [what] my skill set brings to the game. I know what I’m capable of, and I think that, again, like I said, I’m ready to come in and compete. I can’t wait to be under his tutelage.”
Asked if he viewed this contract as a “prove-it” deal before 2027 free agency, Murray explained his goal every year is to go and prove himself “every time I step between those white lines.” He said, “I take pride in how I play the game, what I bring to the game. And I just want my teammates to know that I’m riding for them regardless of the circumstances, and that they can count on me. So contractually, [the details don’t] matter to me. I’m gonna give this organization everything I got.”
O’Connell said he’s had good dialogue throughout the offseason with McCarthy, who has been going through offseason workouts in California. The fifth-year coach envisions an environment among the quarterbacks that will elevate the room and team.
“Today was really something that I thoroughly enjoyed, getting to spend a good amount of time with him, getting him around some of our other coaches and some of the folks that are so impactful to our players’ success in this building,” O’Connell said. “It was a really productive day that culminated with Kyler signing a contract to be a quarterback on our team.
“We accomplished a goal, which was to add a really talented player with some experience in that room and something that I’m really excited about as we set out to … elevate that quarterbacks room and the situation in that quarterbacks room being very competitive,” O’Connell said. “Each player, whether it’s J.J. or Max [Brosmer] or Kyler, attacking it every day and really being a driving force behind not only our offense’s improvement for the ’26 season, but our entire football team.”
